In laying out their closing arguments to the 12-person jury, Crown prosecutors say that Devils Army then-President Ricky Alexander killed MMA fighter Dillon Brown in 2016 to protect Hells Angels members from a potentially incriminating and embarrassing lawsuit.
Prosecutors say Alexander’s close ties with the Hells Angels are “crucial” in understanding why they say Alexander was the one to allegedly shoot Brown in the back of the head in March of 2016.
Crown categorized the outlaw motorcycle club Devils Army as a “Ricktatorship,” where Alexander had the last and final say on everything. They also say the Devils Army was a puppet club of the Hells Angels, with a specific connection to the Haney Chapter out of Maple Ridge.
Crown Prosecutors allege Brown’s murder was set in motion by a barfight between Brown, two visiting Hells Angels members from the mainland, and a Devils Army member at Campbell River’s Voodoo Lounge on Nov. 22, 2015.
Prosecutors say Brown, whose pending civil lawsuit against the Voodoo Lounge owner and video evidence of the fight, had the potential to make the Hells Angels look bad or expose them to potential criminal charges.
By all accounts, Brown, a father and MMA fighter at the time of his death, held his own against the members in the fight, something the prosecution says could have embarrassed the gang if it came to light.
According to the Crown, Alexander, whose DNA was reportedly considered “too African-American” to be accepted into the Hells Angels, learned about the video and potential lawsuit and took it upon himself to defend the Hells Angels.
During the trial, Nicole Herman, Brown’s girlfriend, testified that Brown had informed her about a conversation he had with Alexander. According to Herman, Alexander expressed a desire to settle the matter out of court because “he didn’t want his guys going down for it.”
The Crown also called the jury’s memory back to a key witness, known only as “X.”
“X” is a former full-patch Devils Army member who testified that he was the one who found Brown’s body in the clubhouse, smelled gunpowder, and saw Alexander walking in with a towel to clean up the blood.
“Don’t touch him! Don’t f****** touch him,” X alleges Alexander told him.
X told the jury he helped Alexander by burning or destroying any remaining evidence and wiping the clubhouse clean of Brown’s blood.
Key witness, or killer?
When their time came, Alexander’s defence flipped the script on the Crown’s key witness. Brent Anderson, Alexander’s defence lawyer told the 12-person jury that Alexander didn’t kill Brown, X did.
Anderson told the jury that X, high on cocaine, “snapped” after being formally discharged from the Navy that day. Anderson says X also had other motivations like wanting to solidify his position in the gang by murdering Brown, who Anderson alleged, was known for his disdain for bikers.
Anderson alleges that X falsely accused Alexander to the police, to “save his own skin.” Instead, Anderson says Alexander helped X clean up the murder out of a sense of loyalty.
Crown prosecutor Kimberly Henders Miller predicted the defence’s storyline.
“[Alexander] gave orders. He didn’t clean up messes that were made by other people,” she said, preemptively, in her final submissions
Alexander’s defence plans to wrap their final submissions Monday morning. After that, the jury will be charged with making a judgement.
Kori Sidaway
